The Knitting Guild Club consists of 14 members. Barbara Cochrane, of Wescosville, is the "unofficial" leader of the group, which meets at Whitehall Township Public Library.

A wide range of women attend meetings.

"I'm in my 70s," Cochrane said, "but we have a member who's pregnant with her third child."

Additionally, two visitors to February's meeting were even younger than that.

"Anyone who wants to knit can come join us and is more than welcome," Cochrane said.

At a typical meeting, members and visitors knit sweaters, scarves, hats and other similar items for themselves, family and friends. Throughout the year, the club also does charity knitting, such as making caps for people undergoing chemotherapy and hats for children whose families are struggling financially.

In addition to knitting many different types of articles, members of the club also learn different techniques of knitting. A few of those techniques are dying yarn with Kool-Aid, "knit to fit" and entrelac knitting, which is fabric that looks woven.

If crocheting is your hobby, though, you're still welcome at meetings.

"Some people crochet. Mostly we knit, but there are people who come who do some crocheting," Cochrane said.

"We sit around and knit and chat and solve the problems of the world, or at least a problem someone's having in the group whether it's a knitting problem, with kids, with a husband, whatever. We're just a group of women who are all friends," Cochrane said. "We're very supportive of each other. Women need girlfriends."

One of the projects Cochrane is working on is a green sweater. She has been knitting this sweater for four years. But the number of years working on the sweater doesn't have to do with her skill.

"I started knitting this when my husband was getting chemo, and I would go sit in the hospital and knit."

When Cochrane's husband died, she had to stop. "I couldn't work on it anymore," she said.

Only recently has Cochrane felt she could work on it at a faster pace.

The knitting club helped her through her difficult time.

"They were extremely supportive," she said, with a hint of emotion in her voice. "We all support each other." And that's one feature of the club Cochrane's very thankful for.

The Knitting Guild Club meets at Whitehall Township Public Library 12 times a year – the first Thursday of each month from 6:30 to 8 p.m.